Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-01-01
The New Alabama.
RECENT GREAT CHANGES IN THE CHARACTER or ITS
POPULATION.

From the Louisville Courier Journal, Dec o.
The important change, superinduced by the
successful and largely profitable activity centred
at Birmingham, and which is beginning to be
duplicated at Shefield and Florence in the north
west corner Of the state, Will be revolutionary OF
the business habits of the population and OF the
home life and character Of the people. Already
many OF the planters Of the Black Belt have taken
all the money they have heretofore invested in
cotton raising and have Invested 1t In real estate
and industries in Birmingham. The mortgages on
the farming lands thus neglected will soon eX-
plre, ana as there Is no money to pay these
farms WILDE sold and will fall into the hands OF
Northern capitalists. There is some fear felt in
Alabama lest the northern man, In casting about
for tenants for the land they acquire by fore
Is 'afn over &c 1ne negroes In IN which
thrfftless and improv1dent hands There seems
to be only theoretical reason for this fear how
ever, and 1t Is based On the idea that the negro
can endure the malarial character OF the country
better than the white man. This has been greatly
exaggerated The principal cause OF unhealthful-
Tuscaloosa, one of the most prominent lawyers OF
the state and gentleman OF wide information
and close student OF his state, is the lack pure
water supply. This, he says, can be remedied In
the Black Belt at less cost than anywhere
else. The land is all underlald with lime
ssn be easily into sss 9 aa@
holding water. Exposure hardens the stone, but
the rain water caught In these ctsterns is purified,
preserved and becomes the healthiest OF drinking
water. These stone cisternS are already in use on
many farms, but In general the water supply is
neglected, and disease is invited by drinking the
impure water OF creeks and rivers. With plenty
OF good water the agricultural districts ought to
be populated by Industrious Germans, who would
vary the crops and nurse the Soil, and would not
only produce crops to export, but would soon sup
ply the industrial and mining centers north OF the
belt with all the market produce needed. AS 1t is
now, Birmingham, situated at the mouth OF a
fairly fertile and well-watered valley is forced to
send to Nashville and other Tennessee towns for
milk, butter, &c, chickens eggs. &c: There is no
netghbOrhOOd OF the town would soon get rich,
getting money as fast as the manufacturers.
When the breakup comes in the Black Belt and
northern bankers come into possession OF the land
venture to predict that It will not be surrendered
to the negroes The demand for food supplies in
the mining districts will make it necessary for the
southern farms to be titled by expert agcuturists
and white men will step in. The negro will move
overinto Mississippi, the paradise of his race.
the fact that the lands are falling into the hands
OF men who will be inclined to consolidate IL in
o MINERAL nGa
are now owned by corporations, and wherever
there is sign OF speculative value landcompan1es
have been formed and the ground gobbled up. 1t
is then held for speculation though in several in
stances, notably at Florence and Sheffield, the
companies are wise enough to appreciate the value
the purchaser binds himself to settle upon and
Improve the ground he buys. AT present the most
numerous class Of men In Alabama are the real
estate agents.
The change of ownership in the lands will drive
the present propretOrs to the towns, and the pro-
cess OF converting an agricultural population into
Natives will meet in the mills and furnaces with
skilled northern wOrkmen, and native merchants
will enter into competition with shrewd anf en-
terpriSing business men from every state. The
credit SYSTEM so Odious in its effects and so de-
structiye OF business activity, viii disappear. and
in the next twenty years Alabama Will be con-
verted from poor and listless farming territory
into rich, active, and prosperous community,
with diversified interests, mixed and vigorous
population, and an entirely new character, The
signs OF the change are already plain about Biz
BILE In middle Tennessee where the mixture Of
population has been very considerable. The iron
tanooga, Knoxville and Birmingham, and the
northern merchants who have followed In their
wake have made notable impression, and have
given great impetus to the business and social
changes necessarily inaugurated.
The southern character, nodded by the sur
roundings OF slavery, has not had the benefit OF
the northern leaven OF self-reliance and enter
prise. In 1857 MI. Moses, now OF Shefheld, went
10 New York and exhibited to Peter Cooper and
Abram S. Hewitt specimens OF the rich red Ore
found in Red Mountain, and told them that it in
expense for mining. Il have no doubt" said Mr..
Hewitt to MIR. Moses, shat you really think this
ore is there as you describe 1t In 1nexhauStfble
again, as IL will not be believed in New York /"
"Why not?" asked Mr.. Moses. "Simply because I"
answered Mr.. Hewitt, 1--WE northern men look
Aiabamians have got this gold and silver lying
around above ground why don't you work 1t up7"
The northern man, with his habits OF industry
and keen outlook for every opportunity TO make
be LETT in the ground when immense fortunes We're
easily to be got for mining 1t. And not UNDER
standing IL lie did not believe 1t. The mineral
riches OF Alabama have been known since 1878
COL Hillman, OF Tennessee, FIRST discovered thenl
but with slave labor in abundance, agriculture
and cotton raising contented the rich planters OF